Slide selector contact switch with orthogonal u-shaped spring detent



March 24, 1970 J. BONACQUISTI 3,502,824

' SLIDE SELECTOR CONTACT SWITCH WITH ORTHOGQNAL IF-SHAPED SPRING DETENT Filed May 24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIIYENTOR Joss n bountqulsn swag m;

ATTORNEY March 24, 1970 J. BONACQUISTI 7 3,502,824 SLIDE SELECTOR 00 CT SWITCH H ORTHOGONAL U-SHAP SPRING DET T Filed May 24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wvnv ra n 4% I J05EPH bouncqmsn WWQ 91;?

ATMRIEY United States Patent 3,502,824 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 3,502,824 SLIDE SELECTOR 1 ONTACT SWITCH WITH ORTHOGONAL U-SHAPED SPRING DETENT Joseph Bonacquisti, 'Collingswood, N.J., assignor to RCA Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 24, 1967, Ser. No. 641,019 Int. Cl. H01h /02 US. Cl. 200-16 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A completely captive switch is disclosed which has a positive, precise detent mechanism that can be positioned at various determined settings in a cross bar selector switch and which gives a continuous electrical impulse reading while undergoing severe shock and vibration conditions.

The invention herein described was made in the course of or under a contract or subcontract thereunder with the Department of the Army.

This invention relates to a contact switch and more particularly to a new cross bar slide selector contact switch useful for programming and the like.

The invention resides in an improved cross bar selector switch which may readily be employed for example in data processing machines, communications, timing devices and electrical testing equipment of all sizes. Various types of cross bar switches are known and used in the state of the art. Many of these switches are constructed of loose parts which become diflicult to assemble andonce assembled become dislodged in handling or by shock and vibration.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved cross bar selector switch which is relatively free from shock and vibration.

It is another object of this invention is provide an improved contact switch useful in a cross bar slide selector switch and the method of making the same.

A further object of this invention is to provide a completely captive switch with a positive precise detent mechanism which can be positioned at various determined settings and gives a continuous electrical impulse reading while undergoing thermal and shock conditions.

Briefly, a completely captive contact switch having a resilient conductive member protruding from opposed ends is spaced by a spacing member between a plurality of spaced parallel conductors and at least one other conductor transverse to the plurality of conductors. The spacing member has at least one slot therein for sliding the captive contact switch therealong between the plurality of conductors and at least the one other transverse conductor. The contact switch has a captive detent protruding from the contact switch body which is adapted to catch a plurality of grooves spaced at increments along the slot. The detent, the grooves, the conductive member and conductors are arranged so that, when the detent catches a selected groove, the detent positions and holds the protruding conductive member between a selected one of the plurality of conductors corresponding to the selected groove and the transverse conductor.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show one embodiment thereof by way of example only and in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of part of one of the selector switch modules,

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of a contact switch in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a plurality of selector switch modules.

FIGURE 4 is a sketch of a programming gun which may be used in accordance with this invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown part of a selector switch module 10. A number of the modules as shown in FIG. 1 may be coupled together to form a gang type assembly as shown in FIG. 3. The module 10' includes a baseboard 11 and a baseboard 12 made of a nonconductive material. Printed on the bottom surface 13 of baseboard 11 as shown in FIG. 1 are a plurality of spaced parallel conductors 14 (dotted lines) running in a first direction along the length of the baseboard 11. These parallel conductors 14 extend from one edge to the opposite edge of baseboard 11 on the bottom surface 13. Each of these spaced parallel conductors 14 terminate to a respective one of the terminals 16 through respective conductive feed through points 17 and 18 and respective printed conductor strips 19 on the opposite surface 20 of baseboard 11. By placing the printed strips 19 on the opposed face 20, the baseboard 11 insulates the strips 19 from the conductive strips 14 by the thickness 15 of the baseboard 11.

The second baseboard 12 similar to and spaced parallel to baseboard 11 has printed on the top surface 25 a plurality of spaced parallel conductors 26. The conductors 26 run across the width of the baseboard 12 in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the parallel conductors 14 on baseboard 11. The conductors 26 run generally in the same direction as strips 19. Termination of conductors 26 is provided at respective terminals 27 at the end of baseboard 12. Baseboards 11 and 12 are spaced parallel to each other by a nonconductive spacer 35. The spacer 35 has a plurality of equally spaced slots 36 therein that extend almost the full width of the module 10. The equally spaced slots 36 are spaced so as to correspond with the plurality of conductors 26 on the top surface 25 of baseboard 12 so that a conductor 26 extends below and along each spaced slot 36. A plurality of detent slots or grooves 37 adapted for housing a ball face button detent are spaced along one side of each of the slots 36. The grooves 37 are spaced a given distance relative to the plurality of conductors 14 on the bottom surface 13 of baseboard 11.

A slidable contact switch 41 more completely shown in the exploded view in FIG. 2 is provided having a first plastic cover half 50 and a second cover half 51. The covof material may be a thermal plastic material. The dimensions of the cover 50-51 are determined so that the thickness of the cover 50-51 fits in a manner to slide snugly along a slot 36 and along a conductor 26 and so that the cover 50-51 and consequently switch 41 extends above the slotted portion of spacer 3-5 and slides snugly between baseboards 11 and 12. In each contact switch there are two noble metal U-shaped resilient wire contacts 53-54. Two silient wire contacts 53, 54 are used in the described embodiment to add redundancy and provide improved performance during shock and viibration. The two metal contacts 53-54 are lodged in a U-shaped cavity 52 formed in the first and second cover halves 50-51 of the contact switch 41. The end portions of the U-shaped contacts 53-54 are bent to present a slidable contact surface. The end portions of contacts 53-54 protrude from the opposed side surfaces of plastic cover 50-51 so that, when the contact switches 41 are inserted into the slots 36 of spacer 35, one end of contacts 53-54 makes contact with conductor 26 on baseboard 12 and the opposite end of contacts 53-54 makes contact with conductors 14 on baseboard 11. A small ball faced button detent 60 and a spring 61 which spring loads the ball faced button detent 60 is encapsulated in the plastic cover 50-51. A cylindrical shaped cavity 55 is located within the plastic cover 50-51 and extends from the center of the cover 50-51 to form 3 an opening through the second cover half 51 as shown in FIG. 2. The diameter of the cavity 55 is made somewhat smaller at a portion 56 shown in FIG. 2 located near the opening for the detent 60 in the cover half 51. The ball faced detent 60 is generally cylindrical shaped and is placed within the cavity 55 as shown in FIG. 2. The dimension of the detent 60 is made so that it slides snugly along the cavity 55. The ball faced portion of the detent 60 is somewhat smaller in diameter than that of the remaining portion so that only the ball faced portion can protrude through the narrow opening and the remaining portion of the ball faced detent 60 is encapsulated within plastic cover 50-51. The ball faced detent 60 is of the size and nature to engage and hold in the plurality of grooves 37 and yet be slidable along the slot 36. The lengthwise axis of the button detent 60 and the length of the cavity 55 is such as to allow the ball faced portion of the button detent 60 to be depressed against the spring 61 flush to the plastic cover 50-51 to allow the contact switch 41 to be slid along the slot 36 in grooved increments to select the desired cross bar conductor 14 on baseboard 11. The spring-loaded detent mechanism 60 and the wire contacts 53-54 are encapsulated within the plastic cover 50-51 by bonding the two plastic pins 57-58 in the associated apertures 63, 64. The bonding may be done by ultrasonic welding. The position of the ball faced button detent 60 relative to the conductive contacts 53-54 is the same as the relative position of the groove 37 is to the selected cross switch conductor 14 so that when the contact switch 41 is in a given grooved position one end of the wire contacts 53-54 makes contact with an associated conductor 14 on baseboard 11 and the opposed end of wire contacts 53-54 makes contact with a conductor 26 on baseboard 1'2.

In the operation of the above described cross bar selector switch, a plurality of contact switches 41 are slid along the slots 36 in precise increments by applying a probe member through openings 38 at one end of the respective slots 36. The precise increments are the points at which ball faced detent 60 protrudes from the cover 50-51 to catch and lodge in one of the grooves 37. At each precise increment that detent 60 lodges in a groove 37, one end of the wire contact 53-54 couples the then selected corresponding conductor 14 to a given conductor 26 on baseboard 12. The only exception to this case is when contact switches 41 are returned to the front position near openings 38 where one end of wire contacts 53-54 make contact with the wide zero level conductor 45 on the bottom surface 13 of baseboard 11 and where the opposite end of wire contacts 53-54 make contact with the wide zero level conductor 46 on the top surface of baseboard 12. The zero position conductors are presented in FIGURE 1 as wider conductors which extend across the length of the board to present a zero position for all of the contact switches 41. The contact switches are returned to the zero position on boards 11 and 12 respectively by means of a rake 49 which drags the plurality of contact switches 41 back to the zero level positions 45-46. To allow for the rake assembly 49 to be operative, the spacer 35 is made so that the portion of the spacer wherein the slots 36 are located is thinner than the front portion 48. A spacer 31 is added to space the back end of the module the same amount as the front portion 48. As mentioned previously the contact switch 41 has a width so that when the thickness of contact switch 41 is inserted into the slot 36 as shown in FIG. 1, it extends above the slot 36 a sufficient amount to allow the rake 49 to drag the switch back to the zero levels between conductors 45-46. The contact switch extends abOVe the slot the same height that the front portion 48 of the spacer 35 and the spacer 31 extends so as to place the contact switch 41 snugly between baseboards 11 and 12.

Several of the modules as shown in FIGURE 1 may be ganged together to form a ganged type assembly as shown in FIG. 3. For example, the bottom surface portion 29 of baseboard 12 shown in FIG. 1 may carry a plurality of space conductors 14 running across the length of the baseboard 12 similar to conductors 14 on baseboard 11 in FIG. 1 to form the top conductors of another module below module 10. The top surface 20 of baseboard 11 may likewise be used to carry conductors similar to conductors 26 on baseboard 12 of another module above module 10'. The conductors printed on surface 20 of baseboard 11 may be running in the same direction as conductors 26 on baseboard 12. The termination strips 19' on baseboard 12 similar to that used for conductors 14 on baseboard 11 may be spaced between conductors 26 to act as termination strips for each of the conductors 14' on baseboard 12. The module 10 can be assembled together, for example, by passing a bolt through the four corners of the baseboards 11 and 12 and spacers 31 and 35. Baseboards 11 and 12 are shown in FIG. 1 to have apertures 75, 76, 78 and 79 for the passage of a bolt therethrough. FIG. 1 also shows apertures 74, 77 and 80 for the passage of bolts through spacers 31 and 35. The bolts may be made fast to nuts or a threaded end plate. Several modules similar to module 10 may likewise be assembled together as shown in FIG. 3 by passing bolts 82 through an end plate 81 and corresponding apertures located at thefour corners of baseboards 11A and 12A and spacers 31A arid 35A. The bolts 82 may be made fast to an end plate 83 located at the opposite end and threaded at the corresponding four corners. The output terminals 16 and 17 of the baseboards 11A and 12A may be coupled to a common printed circuit board 73 at one end of the baseboards 11A and 12A.

A programming gun made up of a plurality of probes 71 of varying length indicative of a given program for the switch is shown in FIG. 4. When the probes 71 are inserted into the module 10 at end 38 shown in FIG. 1, the probes 71 slide the several contact switches 41 at once a given distance determined by the probe length to select a given program. A programming gun similar to that shown in FIG. 4 but of several tiers may be used to program the assembly shown in FIG. 3. Likewise several rakes can be tiered together to form a rake 49A as shown in FIG. 3 which drags the contact switches 41 in the several modules of the assembly to the front zero level. Spacers 31A in combination with the raised portion of spacer 35A allows the rake 49A to slide freely within the assembly.

What is claimed is:

1. A slide selector switch comprising:

a plurality of spaced non-movable parallel conductors,

at least one other non-movable conductor extending transverse to and spaced from said plurality of conductors,

means spacing said plurality of parallel conductors from said transverse conductor,

said spacing means defining at least one slot therein extending transversely of said plurality of parallel conductors and corresponding to said transverse conductor,

said spacing means defining said slot having grooves spaced along the length of said slot corresponding to each of said plurality of conductors,

at least one contact switch having a resilient conductor member protruding from opposed ends of the body of said switch and having a detent member extending from the body in a direction orthogonal to said conductor member and adapted to catch said spaced grooves,

said contact switch being slidably mounted within said slot with said detent member, said grooves, said protruding conductive member, and said conductors being arranged relative to one another to permit said contact switch to slide along said slot and said detent to catch a selected groove and thereby hold said protruding conductive member at one end in c0ntact with one of said plurality of conductors and at the opposite end in contact with said transverse conductor.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said detent member is a ball faced spring loaded detent member and said grooves are adapted to receive said ball faced detent member.

- 3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said contact switch has a contact switch cover and said conductive member is held within said cover and protrudes from opposed ends of said cover and said detent member is held within said cover with a portion protruding from said cover.

4. A slide selector switch comprising:

a plurality of spaced non-movable parallel conductors,

at least one other non-movable conductor extending transverse to and spaced from said plurality of parallel conductors,

means spacing said plurality of parallel conductors from said transverse conductor,

said spacing means defining at least one slot therein extending transversely of said plurality of parallel conductors and corresponding to said transverse conductors,

said spacing means defining said slot having a plurality of grooves spaced within and along the length of said slot a given relative distance from an associated one of each of said plurality of spaced parallel conductors,

at least one contact switch having a contact switch body adapted to and being slidably mounted along said slot,

said contact switch having a resilient conductive member protruding from opposed ends of said contact switch body and having a spring loaded detent member protruding from said body and adapted to catch and hold in said spaced grooves,

said detent and said protruding conductive member being spaced from one another said given relative distance so that when said detent catches a selected one of said grooves one end of said conductive member makes contact with said associated one of said plurality of conductors and the opposite end of said conductive member makes contact with said transverse conductor,

. A slide selector switch comprising: I

a first baseboard of insulating material having thereon a first plurality of spaced non-movable parallel individual circuit conductors,

a second baseboard of insulating material parallel to and spaced from said first baseboard having thereon a second plurality of spaced non-movable parallel individual circuit conductors extending transversely of said first plurality of spaced parallel conductors,

spacing means between said baseboards defining a plurality of slots formed therein extending transversely of said first plurality of conductors and corresponding to said second plurality of conductors, said spacing means defining each of said slots having grooves within and spaced along the length of said slots with each groove a given relative distance from an associated one of each of said first plurality of spaced conductors,

a plurality of slidable contact switches each having a cover and a conductive member held within said cover so that said conductive member protrudes from said cover at opposed ends thereof,

each of said contact switches having a ball faced spring loaded detent held within said cover with only the ball faced portion of said detent protruding from said cover,

said contact switches being individually slidably mounted relative to said first and second plurality of spaced conductors within said plurality of slots and between said first and second baseboards so that as each of said contact switches slides along said slot said detent catches said grooves in precise increments to hold said contact switch at a selected position to 5 make contact between one of said transverse conductors and one end of said conductive member and between the then selected one of said first plurality of conductors and the opposite end of said conduc- 10 tive member,

whereby a switch actuating means can be used to simultaneously slide said contact switches along said respective slots to complete selected electrical contact between said transverse conductors and said first plurality of conductors,

6. A contact switch for slidable use between spaced transverse conductors where the spacing member defines a slot with grooves spaced along the length of said slot at a given associated position relative to said conductors comprising:

an insulator body having a U-shaped cavity therein,

a U-shaped resilient conductive member located within said cavity with the end portions of said U-shaped member protruding from said body at opposed ends of said body,

a ball faced slidable detent member having the ball faced end small-er in diameter than the remainder of the detent, said body having a second cavity therein adapted to slidably mount said detent and allowing one said ball faced portion to protrude from one end of said body and thereby hold said detent therea spring mounted within said second cavity of said body to spring load and hold said detent,

said detent member and said conductive member being arranged relative to each other so that when said switch is in said slot and said detent member catches a selected one of said grooves resulting in one protruding end of said conductive member contacting one of said transverse conductors the opposite protruding end of said conductive member contacts another conductor transverse to said one transverse conductor.

7. The combination called for in claim 6 wherein said insulator body has a first and second portion wherein said first portion has a U-shaped groove therein and a plastic pin extending from said groove side and said second portion has a U-shaped groove therein and an aperture and said first and second portions being positioned so that said grooved side of said first portion coincides with said grooves side of said second portion and said pin is positioned in said aperture.

Wang et al. 200l6 X FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1965 Germany.

ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner R. A. VANDERHYE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

